Surveillance or monitoring apparatuses often use at least one video camera allowing surveillance images to be viewed at a remote location. For example, an industrial facility may have several video cameras at various locations throughout the facility, each camera being communicatively coupled to a respective video screen at a central security station operated by one or more guards.
More recently, video cameras have been developed that can be coupled to a computer hosting any number of software programs capable of converting video images received from the video cameras into a document in hypertext mark-up language (HTML) format, or in other words a document compatible with the Internet standard known as the world wide web (www). Further, personal communication devices such as cellular phones, pagers, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are becoming increasingly popular commercial products, as wireless communication technology becomes widespread and affordable. Additionally, a number of cellular phone manufacturers are manufacturing and selling camera phones or other smart phones having video displays capable of displaying received images or camera capabilities capable of generating desired images.
Moreover, home security systems have become more common. However, even the most sophisticated home security systems are limited by rudimentary provisions for remote access by the property owner. Further, false alarms are relatively common with traditional home security systems. Even if the owner is made aware of an alarm, there is no convenient and cost-effective way for the owner to determine whether the alarm is a false alarm. For example, existing systems may notify an owner of a possible break-in or other event through an automated phone call or page message, but the owner has no way of verifying whether there is a genuine emergency or merely a false alarm.
While these existing monitoring systems have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been satisfactory in all respects. For example, and as mentioned above, even if an owner is notified by a page or telephone call of a problem or other event of interest, there is no convenient way for the owner to determine whether the event represents a true problem or just a false alarm, still less from virtually any remote location. Further, existing systems do not allow for convenient monitoring of locations outside traditional cell phone service areas. Moreover, traditional methods that incorporate the Internet for data transmission may suffer from network slowdowns and crashes that often accompany data transmission over the Internet.